TY - JOUR

T1 - Factors driving the vascular plant species richness in urban green spaces

T2 - Using a multivariable approach

AU - Matthies, Sarah A.

AU - Rüter, Stefan

AU - Prasse, Rüdiger

AU - Schaarschmidt, Frank

N1 - Funding Information: This joint research project was financially supported by the State of Lower-Saxony, Hannover, Germany ( VWZN2631 ). We thank H. Grebe for providing digital data and M. Bienek, G. Brunotte, L. Busse, I. Fischer, G. Garnatz, H. Geiges, S. Hallex, H. Illmer, B. Karrasch, C. Peter, H. Scharping, N. Voßler, A. Wenau, C. Wohnrade for the opportunity to conduct field surveys. We are grateful to M. D. Graf and L. van Falkenhayn for proofreading the English manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on a former version of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2015/2/1

Y1 - 2015/2/1

N2 - Many studies have shown high vascular plant species richness in urban areas and, especially, in its green spaces. However, little is known about the factors driving the numbers and proportions of different species groups. The aim of our study was to test for the effects of patch size, patch shape, and distance to the urban edge as well as the combined effects of these factors on the numbers and proportions of total, native, non-native, endangered, ornamental, and nitrophilous vascular plant species. We conducted vascular plant surveys in 32 urban green spaces in the city of Hannover, Germany. We detected positive correlations between patch size and total, native, non-native, endangered, ornamental, and nitrophilous vascular plant species numbers and the proportion of endangered species by Spearman's rank correlations and linear regressions. A more compact patch shape, calculated by the shape index, affected the proportion of native, non-native, and ornamental species positively. Testing combined effects of factors with multiple linear regressions underlined the importance of patch size in combination with distance to the urban edge, and in combination with distance and patch shape. We conclude that in the context of recent urbanization processes, it is most important to create and conserve large urban green spaces (>6. ha) in order to maintain vascular plant species richness. As species groups were affected most by different combinations of driving factors, our study highlights the importance of using multivariable approaches for detecting effects more precisely.

AB - Many studies have shown high vascular plant species richness in urban areas and, especially, in its green spaces. However, little is known about the factors driving the numbers and proportions of different species groups. The aim of our study was to test for the effects of patch size, patch shape, and distance to the urban edge as well as the combined effects of these factors on the numbers and proportions of total, native, non-native, endangered, ornamental, and nitrophilous vascular plant species. We conducted vascular plant surveys in 32 urban green spaces in the city of Hannover, Germany. We detected positive correlations between patch size and total, native, non-native, endangered, ornamental, and nitrophilous vascular plant species numbers and the proportion of endangered species by Spearman's rank correlations and linear regressions. A more compact patch shape, calculated by the shape index, affected the proportion of native, non-native, and ornamental species positively. Testing combined effects of factors with multiple linear regressions underlined the importance of patch size in combination with distance to the urban edge, and in combination with distance and patch shape. We conclude that in the context of recent urbanization processes, it is most important to create and conserve large urban green spaces (>6. ha) in order to maintain vascular plant species richness. As species groups were affected most by different combinations of driving factors, our study highlights the importance of using multivariable approaches for detecting effects more precisely.

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Distance to urban edge

KW - Ecological planning

KW - Patch size

KW - Shape

KW - Species number

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84909606536&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.10.014

DO - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.10.014

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84909606536

VL - 134

SP - 177

EP - 187

JO - Landscape and Urban Planning

JF - Landscape and Urban Planning

SN - 0169-2046

ER -